Modular casket display system

ABSTRACT

A casket display structure has a back wall and wing walls that are removably-attached to the back wall to form an alcove. A double-tiered display rack is mounted between the wing walls. The display structure includes a lower casket rollout rack connected to the fixed double-tiered rack by a scissors unit.

This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/025,075 filed Mar. 2,1993 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,017.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a modular display system for a casketselection or display room.

Among the funeral homes in the United States, the displaying of casketsis usually not thoroughly thought out. Typically, fifteen to twentycaskets are in a room and the environment surrounding the caskets is notcompletely and aesthetically designed to bring out all of the importantfeatures of the caskets.

The objective of the present invention has been to provide an improveddisplay structure for supporting the caskets to be viewed, the displaystructure admitting of several configurations which, when properlydisposed in a room, increase the number of caskets that can bedisplayed.

Another objective of the invention has been to improve the aestheticenvironment in which the caskets are displayed.

Another objective of the invention has been to improve the profitabilityto the funeral director of his casket sales.

These objectives of the present invention are attained by providing amodular casket display structure which admits of multiple configurationsand which can be installed very rapidly. More specifically, theinvention includes back wall and side or wing walls removably-joinedtogether so as to permit alcoves to be created and spaced around adisplay room. The invention contemplates a double-tiered display rackcontaining two vertically-spaced caskets disposed in each alcove. Eachalcove is provided with tasteful signage which is easily mounted on theback wall to designate the category of casket and the casket per se astastefully as possible. A modular soffit is mountable with four screwsto the upper front corners of the wing walls. Each soffit contains atrack light for creatively illuminating the caskets being displayed.

A variegated finish on all the surfaces of the alcove within which thecaskets are displayed is of special, relatively neutral color, yet withpigmentation designed to bring up the colors of any casket displayedwithin the alcove.

The modular construction is not only suitable for forming alcoves liningthe perimeter of walls of the display room, but it is also suitable forcreating center-of-the-room displays of various configurations, therebyadding to the utilization of space within the display room.

Using the invention, a room that even seemed crowded when displayingfifteen to twenty caskets can be converted to a room displaying aminimum of twenty-seven to thirty caskets. The invention admits of thedouble stacking of the caskets while at the same time having them easilyaccessible, properly illuminated, and backed with a finish that istastefully and aesthetically suitable for the conditions of selecting acasket. By providing a wider selection of caskets through properutilization of the space provided by the present invention, the displayroom will be more profitable for the funeral director, for the partiesselecting their caskets are more likely to find the caskets that suitthem.

The invention permits the improved selection room to be installed inthree to five days as contrasted to the several weeks that would berequired if the room were built from scratch or "stick built." Thisfact, too, enhances the profitability to the funeral director for thefuneral home will not be undesirable and adversely affected for anextended period of time by clutter and the noise of construction if thepresent invention is employed. Strikingly, the new improved display roomcan be installed almost over the weekend.

Another advantage of the modular construction is that it can be leasedto the funeral director by the casket supplier with conventional leasingterms that permit the funeral director to own the structure at the endof the lease period while safeguarding the lessor permitting it torepossess the display elements if necessary. The improved profitabilityto the funeral director is such that lease payments are very likely tobe able to be made out of the increased profitability that arises out ofthe display of the greater assortment of caskets along with the displayin the most aesthetically pleasing environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The several features and objectives of the present invention will becomemore readily apparent from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a casket display room utilizing thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a disassembled, perspective view of one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view partly in section of the embodiment ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the wall fasteners for thedisplay structure;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the brackets for the wallopposite to the wall depicted in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 6--6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the double-tiered rollout casket rack;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 8--8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment showing adisplay alcove mounted on a permanent wall;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting fasteners for the wallof FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 11--11 of FIG. 9illustrating a typical leveler and bottom molding;

FIG. 12A is a diagrammatic plan view of an alternative freestandingfour-way display;

FIG. 12B is a diagrammatic plan view of an alternative four-way display;

FIG. 12C is a diagrammatic plan view of an alternative two-way display;and

FIG. 12D is a plan view of an alternative four-way display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows three walls of a representative casket display room of afuneral home, the display room having display alcoves formed inaccordance with the present invention. It is contemplated that 26caskets can be displayed in an area of 900 square feet. The illustrationin FIG. 1 is a room that is slightly greater than one-half of anexemplary room. It is to be understood that the modular construction iswell suited for a wide variety of room dimensions and configurations.The partial room illustrated in FIG. 1 is exemplary.

The perimeter vertical walls are lined with alcoves 10, each alcovecontaining two caskets 11 on a double-tiered rack. Along the walls, thealcoves 10 are formed by wing wall structures which will be described indetail below. In the center of the room is a freestanding two-waydisplay structure 12 creating two alcoves 13, each of which has twocaskets 11 mounted on a double-tiered rack. Other freestandingconfigurations will be described below.

Fundamental to all of the configurations is the modular wall structurewherein the modular walls are prefabricated and are removably attachedto one another to create the desired alcove configurations.Approximately 18 minutes are required to set up two alcove units. Acomplete casket display room can be set up in three to five days.

A representative wing wall alcove is described with reference to FIGS. 1and the perspective view FIG. 2.

Two vertical wing walls 20A and 20B are removably secured to a back wall21. The back wall is covered by a removable, decorative panel 22 havinga sign band 23 mounted above it. A soffit or valance 24 interconnectsthe wing walls 20A, 20B at their upper front edges and conceals a tracklight 18 by which the caskets are illuminated (FIG. 3). A double-tiered,self-supporting casket display rack 25 is mounted between the two wingwalls, as best shown in FIG. 2.

Each wing wall 20A, 20B is preferably provided with leveling screws 28such as are conventionally used on refrigerators and the like so as toaccommodate uneven floor situations that are encountered in the widevariety of funeral homes in which the present invention is to beutilized. Prefabricated moldings 27 are slid into place to conceal theleveling screws 28 and to provide an aesthetically-appealing jointbetween the lower edges of the wing walls 20A, 20B and the floor whichthey engage.

Referring to FIG. 2, one embodiment of a freestanding alcove isillustrated. The back wall 21 is formed of an upper section 30 and alower section 31. As illustrated in FIG. 6, each wall section 30, 31 ishollow and is formed of 1/4 inch plywood panels 32 secured around theperimeter to a wooden frame 33. The wing walls 20A, 20B are similarlyformed. At the vertical edges, the wooden frame is recessed about 3/4inch deep to form a channel 34 to receive bedfitting fasteners 35 bywhich the wing walls 20A, 20B are joined to the back wall 21. Each jointbetween wing wall 20A, 20B and back wall 21 has about fourvertically-spaced bedfittings 35. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, there is aslight difference in the orientation of the bedfittings as between theright wing wall 20B of FIG. 4 and the left wing wall 20A as depicted inFIG. 5. The right wing wall 20B has a female fitting 36 consisting of aplate 37 and integral channel-shaped vertical edges 38. An abutment 39projects from the top of the female fitting 36. A male fitting 40 issecured by screws to the frame 33 of the back wall 21 and has a plate41. The vertical edges of the plate 41 have laterally-projecting flangesor wings 42 which are received by the channel-shaped edges 38 of thefemale fitting. The channel-shaped edges 38 are, at their lower edges,slightly flared as at 43 to facilitate the entry of the male fitting 40into the female fitting 36. As shown in FIG. 5, the bedfitting parts 36and 40 are identical to those of FIG. 4. The female fittings 36 on theleft wall 20A, however, are inverted so that the flaring 43 at thevertical edges is at the upper end of the fitting and the abutment 39 isat the lower end of the fitting.

The procedure for assembling the wing walls 20A, 20B to the back wall 21is to first slide the vertical edge of the lower section 31 of the backwall downwardly along the rear marginal surface of the left wing wall20A until the male fittings 40 slide into the female fittings, thussecuring the vertical edge in snug abutting relation to the marginalsurface of the wing wall 20A. The upper section 30 of the rear wall 21is assembled in a similar manner (FIG. 5). Thereafter, the right wingwall 20B is assembled by sliding its marginal surface against thevertical edge of the rear wall with the female fittings 36 sliding overthe male fittings 40. This assembly method creates the joints depictedin FIG. 6.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the upper section 30 of the rear wall 21 hastwo pairs of laterally-spaced blocks 45. The sign band 23, preferablydepicting a casket category, has blocks 47 on its rear surface. Theupper edges of the blocks 45 and the lower edges of the blocks 47 arebeveled, thus forming mating grooves to create a French cleat (FIG. 3)by which the sign band 23 is suspended on the rear wall 21. Thedecorative panel 22 has a strip 51 along its upper edge, the strip 51being beveled as at 52 on its lower edge so as to mate with the lowerpair of blocks 45 to form a French cleat suspension of the panel 22(FIG. 3). The decorative panel 22 has a block 53 mounted on it. A casketsign 54 has a hollow rectangle projecting from its rear surface. Therectangle slides over the block 53 and is screwed thereto to fasten thecasket sign 54 to the panel 22.

A prefabricated soffit or valance 24 has end flanges 57. Mating screwholes 58 and 59 on the flanges 57 and wing walls 20, respectively, areused to mount the soffit 56 between the wing walls. As shown in FIG. 3,the soffit has a five-bulb track light 18. The conductive track of thetrack light has a flexible cable 61 which projects through a preformedhole 62 in one wing wall 20B to connect the track light to an outlet inthe display room of the female home. Each assembled alcove 10 can beconnected to its own outlet or, alternatively, adjoining alcoves can beserially interconnected by running cables 61 from one light bar to thelight bar of the adjoining alcove soffit.

Overlying the alcove is a ceiling formed by a paracube lens 65. An anglebracket 66 is screwed to the upper marginal surface of the back wall andwing walls, leaving a projecting lower leg of the angle bracket. Theparacube lens 65 is simply set into the alcove and rests upon the anglebracket.

As best shown in FIG. 7, the two-tiered casket display rack 25 has abase formed of two laterally-spaced steel rails 70 each of which iswelded to a respective vertical post 71. A steel X truss 72interconnects the steel posts 71. Upper rails 73 are cantilevered fromthe upper ends of the posts 71. The front edges of the upper rails 73are joined by a steel bar 74. The upper rails 73 and bar 74 provide avery rugged support for any casket, the caskets weighing up to about 300pounds.

A rollout rack 75 is connected by a scissors unit 76 to a rod 77 fixedto the rear ends of lower rails 70. One leg 78 of the scissors unit isslidable on the rod 77 and the other leg 79 is fixed to the rod. Therollout rack has six rollers 80 mounted on axles 81 which are mountedbetween transverse bars 82 forming part of the rack 75 as best shown inFIG. 8. The transverse bars 82 have lower surfaces 83 and upper surfaces84. The rollers 80 project slightly below the lower surface 83 and liebelow the upper surface 84 so that the roller can roll along the floorof the display room and the roller is not interfered with by a casketlying on top of the rollout rack 75. The rack 25 and roller combinationis designed to position the lower casket 11 a minimum distance above thefloor so that upper rails 73 can be as low as possible to support thecasket 11 at the lowest height possible, thereby promoting the mostcomfortable and least intimidating position for viewing by the personsselecting a casket.

Preferably, the front surfaces of the post 71 are lined with a rubberstrip 85 to prevent the marring of the casket as it is rolled from aviewing position in front of the alcove back into the rack within thealcove to its storage position. Further, the rod 77 is preferablyprovided with a stop 77A that blocks the casket from being rolled outtoo far and yet assures that the casket will be pulled out far enough topermit lifting the casket lid without banging against the structureabove.

As shown in FIG. 11, each wing wall 20A, 20B (and lower back wallsection if necessary) is fitted with the leveling screw 28 so that thewalls can be leveled on floors that are angled to horizontal. A lowermolding section 27 surrounds the lower edge of the wing wall to concealthe leveler. The molding section may be U-shaped as shown in FIG. 2 toprovide molding legs 27A and 27B for the outside and inside of thealcove, respectively. It is seen that the molding 27 is simply slidaround the lower edge of the wing wall. Where wing walls are mountedside-by-side as shown at 90 in FIG. 1, a J-shaped molding whicheliminates one leg 27A or 27B is employed.

All exposed surfaces of the alcove are preferably coating with avariegated coating that is sprayed on the surface. A preferred coatingis VARIKRON DS 31 60 848 by Roni Coating Systems, Inc. A beige liquidcarries, principally, black, blue and orange beads that splatter whensprayed onto the surface to impart to the surface a neutral hue thatbrings out a color of the casket placed next to the finished surface.

On the category sign band 23, the category of casket is preferablydesignated with hot wire cut Styrofoam letters (not shown).

The value of the modular construction of a display alcove can readily beappreciated from the foregoing description of the modular elements. Therepresentative alcove can be assembled in about 18 minutes. The rearwall 21 is assembled to the left wing wall 20A, the right wing wall 20Bis then slid into place. Two screws on each side mount the soffit 24 tothe upper front edges of the wing walls 20A, 20B. The sign band 23 ishung in place as is the decorative panel 50 using the French cleatmountings. The paracube ceiling 65 is dropped into place. The lowermountings are slid into place. The double-tiered rack 25 is slid intoplace. A complete room can be assembled in three to five days with alabor saving of around $20,000 as contrasted to a "stick built" room.

The variegated finish provides a very pleasing setting for the caskets.The design of the double-tiered casket rack is such as to present theupper casket at a level of about 27 inches above the floor as contrastedto the prior constructions which position the casket at about 31 or 32inches above the floor so that the casket is much less intimidating tothe viewer.

The alcove structure just described is adapted for mounting against thewall of the display room but is nevertheless completely freestanding. InFIG. 9 there is illustrated an alcove structure designed to utilize theexisting wall of the display room.

The existing wall is indicated at 92. Vertical wood strips 93 arescrewed to the vertical wall, as are the blocks 45 which receive thesign band 23 and decorative panel 22. The wing walls 20A, 20B arespecially formed with vertical rear edges 95 having recesses 96. Eachrecess contains three male bedfittings 40 of which only one is shown inFIG. 10 and the vertical strips have three aligned female fittings 36.The recess 96 in the rear edge of the wing walls is deep enough toaccommodate the thickness of the strip 93 and female fittings as well asthe thickness of the male fitting 40 so that the wing walls 20A, 20B canbe assembled by sliding it down over the strip 93 so that it snuglyabuts the existing wall 92. The soffit 24, paracube ceiling 65 anddouble-tiered rack 25 are mounted in the alcove as previously described.

Four freestanding display units suitable for the center of the displayroom are illustrated in FIGS. 12A to 12D.

Referring to FIG. 12A, four alcoves are formed by four L-shaped wallstructures 101. Each L-shaped wall structure consists of a wing wall 20Aand a back wall 21 formed as described in connection with FIG. 2. Theright wing wall is omitted, however. Each back wall 21 has a rearsurface 104 equipped with female bedfittings that are alignable with andreceive male bedfittings on the abutting edges 105 of the rear wall 21.A visible portion 106 of the rear surface of rear wall 21 forms a wingwall of each alcove 100. It is contemplated that double-tiered rackswill be positionable in each of the alcoves 100.

In the alternative construction of FIG. 12B, only rear walls 21 areemployed, the rear walls being interconnected by bedfittings asdescribed in connection with FIG. 12A. The difference between thestructure of FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B is that the wing wall 20 as aseparate unit is eliminated, thus exposing the ends of the casketsmounted in the partial alcove for viewing.

In FIG. 12C, a rear wall 21 is butted against double-sized wing walls107, the connection of the wing walls 107 to the rear wall 21 being madeby the bedfittings as described previously.

The display alcove of FIG. 12D is similar to that of FIG. 12C. Two backwalls 21 are provided and are butted into wing walls 108 that are evenlarger than the wing walls 107. The wing walls 108 are large enough fromback walls for lateral caskets 11 at the sides of the display. In thisform, two interior alcoves 100 are provided, each receiving two casketson a double-tiered rack. At the sides, two caskets on a double-tieredrack can be displayed and backed by the oversized wing walls 108.

From the above disclosure of the general principles of the presentinvention and the preceding detailed description of a preferredembodiment, those skilled in the art will readily comprehend the variousmodifications to which the present invention is susceptible. Therefore,we desire to be limited only by the scope of the following claims andequivalents thereof:

We claim:
 1. A casket display structure comprising:a back wall having atleast one channel-shaped vertical edge, a plurality of vertically-spacedmale bed fittings mounted within said channel-shaped edge, at least onewing wall having a rear marginal surface, a plurality ofvertically-spaced female bed fittings mounted on said rear marginalsurface and receiving said male bed fittings to secure said back wall inabutment to said marginal surface of said wing wall.
 2. A casket displaystructure as in claim 1 in which said casket display structure has twowing walls, one mounted at each vertical edge of said back wall by bedfittings.
 3. A freestanding casket display structure comprising fourL-shaped back wall and wing wall structures as in claim 1,each back wallhaving an edge abutting the rear surface of an adjacent back wallintermediate the vertical edges of said back wall, thereby forming fourdisplay alcoves at right angles to each other.
 4. A modular alcovecasket display structure for a fixed wall of a room comprising:twospaced, parallel, vertical, wooden strips fixed to said wall, two wingwalls each having a channel-shaped vertical edge receiving said stripand abutting said fixed wall, and bed fittings mounted on said stripsand channel-shaped vertical edges, respectively, to secure said wingwalls to said fixed walls.